The county economy from official statistics, with source and year on every table.
Click any dot to open that city: jobs, pay, rent, commute, county economy and climate. Dot size follows population; colours follow the state flag.
By AtiveSite · Published 07/11/2026 · Updated 07/11/2026 · Every figure is linked to its source below.
Berkshire County is a county of Massachusetts with 129,430 residents. Its economy produced $9,165 million in 2024 (ranked #11 of 14 counties) and had 57,946 jobs with an average annual pay of $62,257 (#12 for pay). The unemployment rate was 3.9% in 2026M09. It is part of the Pittsfield, MA metropolitan area (central county).
Berkshire County produced about $9,165 million of goods and services in 2024, which is 1.2% of the combined output of the 14 counties of Massachusetts that BEA reports (about 1.8% of the state's population lives here), and ranks it 11th of 14 on that measure. Per resident that is $70,812, 36% below the state average; the average for all counties of the state taken together is $110,522. In current dollars output grew 4.2% from 2023 to 2024, before adjusting for inflation.
BLS counts 57,946 jobs located in Berkshire County on average in 2024, spread over 5,475 employer sites (about 11 jobs per site). That is 0.45 jobs for every resident, close to the 0.44 of the typical county in Massachusetts, which tells you whether the county is a place people mostly commute to for work or a place they commute from. The average annual pay per job was $62,257, 34% below the average of all counties in the state ($62,257 against $94,544). Average pay is total wages divided by jobs, so it is pulled up by high earners and counts part-time jobs as whole jobs; it is not the pay of a typical worker. The number of jobs fell 1.0% from 2023 to 2024.
The three largest private industries are health care and social assistance (24.2% of private jobs, $65,619 a year on average), retail trade (14.4% of private jobs, $40,300 a year on average), accommodation and food services (13.1% of private jobs, $31,285 a year on average). Together they hold 51.7% of private-sector jobs. Among industries with at least 3% of jobs, the best paying is professional and technical services at $108,012 a year, followed by manufacturing ($75,896). The county is specialised in several industries: educational services (2.5 times the US share, 3,001 jobs); arts, entertainment, recreation (1.9 times the US share, 1,886 jobs); health care and social assistance (1.5 times the US share, 12,092 jobs). A location quotient above 1 means an industry employs a larger share of workers here than in the whole country, so these are the industries where local employers compete hardest for skills. Several of the biggest employers pay well below the county average: retail trade ($40,300), accommodation and food services ($31,285). Jobs there are plentiful but the pay is lower than the headline average suggests.
In 2026M09 the unemployment rate in Berkshire County was 3.9%, 6% below the average of the state's counties (3.9% against 4.1%). The labour force (people working or looking for work) numbered 64,387. Over the last 12 months it ranged from 3.9% (2026M09) to 5.6% (2026M01); the latest month is preliminary and BLS revises it. These county rates are not seasonally adjusted, so compare the same month across years.
The median household income was $76,013 (ACS 2020–2024), 27% below the state median ($76,013 against $103,960). The guide covers 2 cities with this as the main county: Pittsfield, North Adams. Open any of them for rent, home values, commuting and climate. Within the county, median rent runs from $793 in North Adams to $1,134 in Pittsfield, so where you live matters as much as which county you pick.
Counties close to Berkshire County in output are Barnstable County, Hampshire County, Franklin County, Dukes County. Compare their jobs, pay and unemployment on their own pages.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ | Rank among the 14 counties of Massachusetts ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 129,430 | 11 of 14 |
| GDP 2024 | $9,165 million | 11 of 14 |
| GDP per resident | $70,812 | 8 of 14 |
| Jobs (QCEW 2024) | 57,946 | 11 of 14 |
| Average annual pay | $62,257 | 12 of 14 |
| Job change vs 2023 | -1.0% | 13 of 14 |
| Unemployment rate (lower is better) | 3.9% | 7 of 14 |
| Median household income | $76,013 | 12 of 14 |
Federal jobs in Massachusetts (896) →All cities of MassachusettsState guide: Massachusetts
These links go to official sources and open in a new window. The first one is the government's or company's own site as listed in Wikidata (property "official website"); check it before relying on it.
Cities of this guide whose main county is Berkshire County.
| City ⇅ | Population ⇅ | Median household income ⇅ | Median rent ⇅ | Median home value ⇅ | Bachelor's+ ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsfield | 43,457 | $70,582 | $1,134 | $256,900 | 34.2% |
| North Adams | 12,606 | $47,500 | $793 | $195,900 | 28.4% |
| Industry ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Share of private jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Concentration vs US (location quotient) ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 12,092 | 24.2% | $65,619 | 1.46 |
| Retail trade | 7,212 | 14.4% | $40,300 | 1.25 |
| Accommodation and food services | 6,560 | 13.1% | $31,285 | 1.25 |
| Manufacturing | 3,298 | 6.6% | $75,896 | 0.69 |
| Educational services | 3,001 | 6.0% | $68,029 | 2.50 |
| Construction | 2,871 | 5.7% | $72,941 | 0.94 |
| Professional and technical services | 2,757 | 5.5% | $108,012 | 0.68 |
| Administrative and waste services | 2,244 | 4.5% | $57,697 | 0.66 |
| Other services (except public administration) | 2,033 | 4.1% | $44,618 | 1.17 |
| Arts, entertainment, recreation | 1,886 | 3.8% | $36,858 | 1.94 |
| Finance and insurance | 1,446 | 2.9% | $112,982 | 0.61 |
| Wholesale trade | 1,296 | 2.6% | $93,373 | 0.57 |
| Information | 842 | 1.7% | $132,870 | 0.78 |
| Transportation and warehousing | 779 | 1.6% | $50,943 | 0.32 |
| Real estate and rental | 546 | 1.1% | $54,864 | 0.61 |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 464 | 0.9% | $44,964 | 0.99 |
| Management of companies | 366 | 0.7% | $76,642 | 0.37 |
| Utilities | 272 | 0.5% | $124,076 | 1.23 |
| Mining, oil and gas | 102 | 0.2% | $82,929 | 0.47 |
A location quotient above 1 means the industry is more concentrated here than in the US. BLS withholds sectors with too few employers.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Labour force | 64,387 |
| Employed residents | 61,872 |
| Unemployed residents | 2,515 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.9% |
| Jobs located in the county (QCEW) | 57,946 |
| Employer sites | 5,475 |
Residents employed and jobs located here differ: many residents commute to other counties.
| County ⇅ | Population ⇅ | GDP 2024 ⇅ | GDP per resident ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Unemployment ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middlesex County | 1,638,365 | $240,665 million | $146,894 | 926,104 | $113,704 | 3.8% |
| Worcester County | 867,788 | $60,947 million | $70,233 | 351,476 | $71,641 | 4.2% |
| Essex County | 813,054 | $60,733 million | $74,697 | 323,694 | $75,548 | 4.3% |
| Suffolk County | 785,121 | $190,778 million | $242,992 | 713,809 | $131,280 | 4.2% |
| Norfolk County | 730,082 | $75,071 million | $102,826 | 346,327 | $84,497 | 3.9% |
| Bristol County | 582,270 | $36,041 million | $61,897 | 227,971 | $64,669 | 4.5% |
| Plymouth County | 535,075 | $36,917 million | $68,993 | 194,985 | $69,858 | 4.2% |
| Hampden County | 462,815 | $30,598 million | $66,113 | 202,129 | $62,834 | 5.3% |
| Barnstable County | 231,668 | $19,298 million | $83,302 | 96,280 | $64,707 | 3.8% |
| Hampshire County | 162,028 | $10,389 million | $64,117 | 65,786 | $62,006 | 3.8% |
| Berkshire County | 129,430 | $9,165 million | $70,812 | 57,946 | $62,257 | 3.9% |
| Franklin County | 70,944 | $3,704 million | $52,208 | 25,435 | $54,261 | 3.8% |
| Dukes County | 20,933 | $2,110 million | $100,784 | 9,176 | $71,428 | 3.3% |
| Nantucket County | 14,483 | $2,107 million | $145,505 | 8,560 | $78,799 | 3.0% |
129,430 (Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024).
$9,165 million in 2024 (BEA, current dollars).
3.9% in 2026M09 (BLS, not seasonally adjusted; the latest month may be revised).
57,946 jobs on average in 2024 with an average annual pay of $62,257 (BLS QCEW).